This series of drawings were also made last year. I was doing my thesis then, and thinking about my relationship to fashion and clothing. The topic feels still relevant, because quite often I hear people explaining how fashion is only something shallow and vain. I used to think that too, at the time, when the word “fashion” brought to my mind only images of tall models prancing on the catwalks and posing in magazines, expensive luxury items, shopping malls filled with cheap rags, and all the time more, new, stuff to buy. The bad image did not come out of nothing, but I think that it’s shame, if it gets completely take over the meaning of the word, and supersede everything that is fun and good in fashion.

Nowadays, fashion does not signify to me expensive brand products, status symbols, or the endless pursuit of novelty anymore. Or even the fancy art creations, though I still like them.

For me, at the heart of fashion there is naive delight of playing with clothes. The joy of experimenting and the feeling of belonging, while fooling around with friends. How magical it is to change one’s appearance and instantly be someone else. How it is possible to love a garment and get life-lasting memories of one’s favorite piece of clothig. It is breaking away from everyday, an adventure through lifetime.

In my world fashion doesn’t mean the desire to be perfect. It is not mirroring oneself from other people’s eyes, seeking for approval or appreciation. It is the courage to step over one’s own limits and try new things and thoughts, to live without thinking about other people’s opinions. I don’t think it is shallow or vain.

My theme for these drawings was “the joy of dressing”. They are based on my own memories and photos of me during my life. My goal was to transmit to the viewer the same feeling that I’ve had in those situations – not just the joy of dressing, but the joy of living. I hope that they would summon up viewer’s own memories and inspire to play with style, and to realize that we don’t always have to take our appearance and ourselves so seriously.